...Darcy days became filled with activity and the next months were a sea of friendly faces, good food and a sense of worth.

More gifts appeared, cushions, a rug, even a little armchair, but nobody would tell her where they came from. Darcy had a mystery to solve.

Part 31

One evening after closing, Darcy was sitting in the cafe writing in her notebook. It was a scruffy affair, falling to pieces and had cut out pictures stuck on it. She was so absorbed in what she was doing that it took a while for her to register that she was being watched. The dark figure of Zach, a friend of Bruno, was leaning on the doorpost. Darcy wondered how long he had been stood there. 

Zach smiled as she looked up, moved across to the table, collecting a cup on the way, and sat down opposite her. Darcy closed her book and poured him some tea from the pot beside her. 

Her gaze was met, amusedly

By twinkling eyes and goatee beard

The face of Zach, the music man

A friendly type, but slightly weird

Intrigued by what her book contained

“Just words”, the little bird explained

Darcy wrote things down as a reference for later, albeit in her own distinctive style. It was just something she did. 

Zach often played in the cafe at lunchtimes. He and his guitar were popular and brought in far more people than the cafe could seat. There would be a crowd along the pavement, with sandwiches in hands, tapping their toes to his folksy sound. 

They chatted for a while about mundane things and the, when the tea was drunk, Zach made his way back to the kitchen, to talk to Bruno, and Darcy went up to her room. 

Great joy in such a simple thought

To enter room and close her door

A space that’s hers and hers alone

With wood where wet stones were before

It’s warm and dry, calm and serene

So different from where she’s been

Thoughts turn to evening’s sudden guest

With mischief twinkling in his eye

Unusual that he sought her out

His presence seemed to peek and pry

Another thought - Composure shifts

Could Zach be ‘bearer of the gifts’?
 

Darcy flopped into her little chair by the window and watched the people in the street below. She wasn’t at all sure that someone like Zach would do anything so thoughtful ...and she really couldn’t imagine him sneaking the items up the stairs and leaving them outside her door with notes on them for her. No, it couldn’t be him.